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Posts with tag Wario

Nintendo finally admits E3 was a disappointment


During an interview with VGChartz, Nintendo's resident wrist-hurting, Shaun White-introducing marketing lady, Cammie Dunaway, commented that Nintendo's E3 showing was a bit of a disappointment. You don't say?

"I would say the message is we were disappointed with our performance at E3," commented Dunaway. "There were titles like Wario which we think will be really fun titles that we should have show cased." Yes, we'd have to agree. It was certainly the best game we played at the show. But what about this Pikmin 3 business?

"We were excited that Mr. Miyamoto made the commitment that Pikmin is coming," she said. "It would have been nice if we could have said that on stage. But, we think it was a good recognition for us that we care for our core fans, and not just the new people who are now discovering Nintendo."

E3 2008 was a pretty big deal. We had lots of hands-on impressions, as well as new screens and video to talk about. Check out our live impressions from Nintendo's keynote here, as well as some of the big news right here.

Jamming to Wario Land: Shake It!


Click for image that isn't cropped

If you're the type of person who is big into the music in games, then we've got a post for you. Combine the visual excellence and tight controls (which don't overuse motion control, by the way) with this audio assault and we're sure Wario Land: Shake It! is going to be the Wii title to top this year. Well, actually, the bar was set way back in January, by a little-known game called No More Heroes. We're sure Wario will give Travis a run for his money, though.

Head past the break for the video.

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It

Continue reading Jamming to Wario Land: Shake It!

In Japan, PS3 bested by Wii 3-1 during July

For all of you keeping track of how many months the Wii has crushed the PS3, maybe it's time you got yourself a new notebook. That thing must be full. But, in all seriousness, Japan saw the Wii selling quite a bit more when compared to the PS3 last month.

How much more? Well, the Wii sold 171,851 units in the four weeks leading up to July 27th (so, really, it could've sold a lot more last month), while the PS3 only sold 54,823 units. And, as one might expect, both totally crushed the Xbox 360, which only sold 14,439 units.

We expect that the NPD data in the next few months will reflect something similar, as all of us in North America are still waiting on Wario Land: Shake It! and Mario Super Sluggers. Both of those, as well as Fatal Frame IV, have already released over there, but they pretty much don't count here as Wario and Fatal Frame released only yesterday. Sluggers released way back in June.

Wario gets his shake on in these latest trailers


It's no secret that we're madly in love with Wario Land: Shake It! and its amazing gameplay. When one of us got to check the game out back at E3, we found it to be the title of our dreams. Seriously, there wasn't a single bad thing we could say about the game. As of right now, we're counting down the days until its August 25th release.

After you've watched the new trailer above, head past the break for some more.

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It

Continue reading Wario gets his shake on in these latest trailers

Impressions of Nintendo of Japan's amazing summer lineup


While Americans are still busy complaining about Nintendo's E3 presentation, Japan got a double dose of amazing Wii games right in the middle of the summer. And Rhythm Tengoku Gold on the DS, as if the lineup wasn't mindblowing enough.

Wired's Chris Kohler, who can apparently afford very fast shipping, has already put a few hours into the whole lineup, and wrote up detailed impressions of both Wario Land: Shake It! and Fatal Frame IV. Both are, basically, in line with their respective series, feeling like they're supposed to and providing the same kinds of challenges, with the addition of sensible motion controls that work well. For example, the pointer in Fatal Frame IV controls the flashlight. As if to prove that it's still Fatal Frame, Kohler says that it isn't scary at first and that the characters move too slowly. Yep, that's Fatal Frame.

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It


Gallery: Fatal Frame 4



Source - Wario Land: Shake It! impressions
Source - Fatal Frame IV impressions

Wario Land: Look at screens of it!


A game starring the lumpy, flatulent Wario is an odd candidate for such an appellation (as is any Wii game, for that matter), but Wario Land: Shake It! may be one of the best-looking games ever. It is an absolute delight to look at screens of the beautiful Production I.G.-animated platformer.

GamePro has an expansive gallery of screens featuring the man in the yellow hat running, jumping, shoulder tackling, shaking birds, carrying robots, being on fire, and falling on his face -- all done very smoothly and gracefully. Sort of. We hope Wario manages to shake some treasure out of Wii owners soon, because we'd love to keep looking at this kind of thing.

[Via OMGNintendo]

Wii Warm Up: Dreaming of WiiWare


You know what the best thing about hanging out with JC is? Hearing him gush about Mega Man 9 and how he got a ton of time to play it. It's kind of the same thing with me and Wario Land: Shake It!, I assume. But, what's important is the question we have to ask.

So, in thinking about what other retro dream sequels we could see on WiiWare (Earthworm Jim 3, for example), we'd like to know what you all can come up with. So, let's hear it! What retro dream sequel would you like to see?

E308: Wii Fanboy hands-on with Wario Land: Shake It!

Hands down, Wario Land: Shake It! is the best game I've played so far here at E3. And, thanks to my persistence and rudeness, I was able to enjoy the game a lot longer than most others who've been fortunate enough to play it, not only enjoying some of the game's normal levels, but also taking part in an underwater excursion in Wario's badass sub.

So, I started out on the tutorial level, which shows you all of the in-game actions Wario can perform through some handy billboards sprinkled throughout the level. I was dashing through blocks, scurrying down pipes and doing butt stomps with ease, and once I got to the end of the level, I discovered its end creature, the Murpel (odds are, that isn't spelled right).

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It

Continue reading E308: Wii Fanboy hands-on with Wario Land: Shake It!

E308: Wario Land: Watch It



Following on from last night's assault of screens is this U.S. trailer for Wario Land: Shake It. The first half deals with the game's story of marauding pirate Shay King, his capture of the "Bottomless Coin Sack," and the imprisonment Queen Merelda. Wario comes to the rescue, but naturally shows no interest whatsoever until said coin sack is mentioned. 'Atta boy!

The second part is the usual lifestyle shots of people enjoying the game from their fashionable sofa, interspersed with actual gameplay footage, which obviously looks fantastic. On a different note, anyone else surprised that this is going to be out in Japan next week? It feels like we only found out about it yesterday.

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It

E308: Hey, disgruntled Nintendo fans -- remember Wario Land?



Though it didn't get so much as a syllable in the Nintendo presser earlier today, Wario Land: Shake It remains very much in our thoughts. It's not slipped Nintendo's mind either, for the company belched out fresh screens and character art for its 2D platformer earlier today. In a nutshell, it's basically more of what we've already seen -- quite gorgeous hand-drawn 2D art that continues to look like the cat's galoshes.

Nintendo forgetting the hardcore? This gallery says otherwise.

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It


[Via press release]

Twist and shake with Wario Land: Shake It!


The importance of shaking in Wario Land: Shake It! is apparent from the moment you read the title, but there are also moves available to Wario that involve twisting. Spencer of Siliconera spent some time studying videos from Shake It!'s official Japanese site, and listed down the different types of shake and twist that feature in Wario's adventure.

He quickly discovered that many moves in the game are context-sensitive. So, shaking the Remote up and down repeatedly allows our dungareed hero to swing from bars, as well as shake the treasure from bags or enemies. Twisting the Wiimote is also multi-functional, and will let players steer minecarts, fire themselves from a cannon at a certain angle, or aim at where they'd like to chuck enemies. A respectable range of moves, all performed with two simple motions -- neat!

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It

New screens and video for Wario Land: Shake It!


Do we even need to say it? Wario Land: Shake It! looks so good. From the wonderful look of Wario (his animations look so clean and smooth), down to the big colorful environments and the fact that it's Wario Land. You have to be as pumped as us, for sure. If you haven't checked out the other videos available, we suggest you do so now.

If the trailer above doesn't give you your fix, then hit up Dengeki for a bunch of new screens.

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It


Source - Screens at Dengeki
Source - Trailer

We're all shook up from Wario Land videos


We knew that Wario Land: Shake It! looked really nice, but we simply were not prepared to see it in motion in the gameplay video available on the new Japanese site. The crisp backgrounds and fluid character animation make Shake It one of the best-looking games on Wii or any other console. It's surprisingly beautiful for something that is also so Wario-like -- the gameplay footage is all busting stuff and hoarding treasure.

The site also features the animated intro created by Production I.G., which we've embedded after the break. In addition, an animated controller diagram details the game's sideways-Wiimote-based control scheme: the 1 button tackles, the 2 button jumps, and shaking the Wiimote performs various context-sensitive actions, usually shaking stuff.

Continue reading We're all shook up from Wario Land videos

Wario Land: Shake It! says the box

Nintendo's resident psychopath Wario finally has a face for the shelves outside Japan, and it's a bit of a love-hate boxart. It's classic Wario stomping (well, shaking) his enemies all over the place and acting like a total badass. On the other hand, it seems a little ... brutal. Ostentatious even? This blogger loves any chance to use big words he doesn't even understand, so a debate over the quality of this box is more than welcome.

Wario Land: Shake It! has taken clearer form just recently, as we all bask in its beautfulness. It might be the title to return the series to its original pedigree of excellence, and the release date isn't too far away. The no holds barred violence on the case shouldn't discourage parents from buying this one for their tots, because a nice little E for Everyone is sitting right there from the ESRB. They are always right.

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It

Wario Land: Scan It



Is it just us being overly hopeful, or is 2D gaming on home consoles beginning to experience a mini-renaissance? The Virtual Console is pumping old-school 2D goodness down our pipes on a weekly basis, Capcom is making a new 8-bit style Mega Man for WiiWare, and Nintendo is bringing back Mario's mustache-twirling alter-ego for a fully 2D platformer, Wario Land: Shake It (we'll quietly sweep the latest Castlevania rumors under the carpet if that's okay with you).

Instead of using the NES-style graphics seen in Mega Man 9, Wario Land: Shake It will feature gorgeous, hand-drawn visuals. These were shown off in the latest edition of Nintendo Dream, and Jeux France has the full, super-large scans. Go forth, and coo at their beauty.

Gallery: Wario Land: Shake It

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